Ephedra article...

Received this article from a friend in an email:

Ephedra Is Safe
Article Re-published from Getbig.com

Wow, I live in a world where more people die of alcohol, cigarettes, and sales of over the counter drugs than ephedra but because of the incredible spin off and bad press, ephedra is being banned. Before the FDA got into it, Illinois, New York, and California had decided to ban ephedra (ma huang, ephedrine).

Why, because of a few instances of people who claim that ephedra has contributed to the deaths or injuries of people. If only the supplement companies contributed enough money like the pharmaceutical companies do to the Congress, we wouldn't be having the ban.

By April 2004, the only ephedra you will see are the stockpiles of product that many avid hardcore users have put in their house, as ephedrine was easily proven to be one of the most effective weight loss products. But due to many people overdosing or using the product wrong, the public opinion was quite negative on the product. Add to it a high profile case, like Steve Bechler, which everyone associated with him blamed his death on ephedra, and you get all the negative publicity needed for the FDA to act.

"Xenadrine did not cause or contribute to Mr. Bechler's death... He died of a heat stroke precipitated by his morbid obesity, high blood pressure and heart disease, adverse weather conditions, physical exertion, and inadequate screening, monitoring and medical supervision, NOT EPHEDRA."

However, they always, as usual, neglect to tell everyone that, in the case regarding Steve Bechler, the Baltimore Orioles pitcher, a forensic investigation conducted by former New York City Medical Examiner Dr. Michael M. Baden concluded that "Xenadrine did not cause or contribute to Mr. Bechler's death."

At the time of his death, Mr. Bechler weighed approximately 320 pounds and on February 16, when Mr. Bechler collapsed on the playing field and later died of heat stroke, the temperature on the field was 81 degrees and the humidity 75 percent.

Based on these facts, Dr. Baden concluded that Mr. Bechler "died of a heat stroke precipitated by his morbid obesity, high blood pressure and heart disease, adverse weather conditions, physical exertion, and inadequate screening, monitoring and medical supervision." Funny how they forget to mention this when they scream that he died because of Xenadrine and ephedra.